Ouidah Museum: New Museum

In 2013, inspired by this success and motivated by the aim of preserving artistic heritage in Africa, the foundation decided to put the works of art in its collection on permanent display. It chose the Ajavon villa, a historical building in the town of Ouidah, as the location for the first African contemporary art museum and then invested in restoring the building itself. As passionate defenders of afro-optimism, the Zinsous saw this as a unique opportunity to distance the African continent from depressing cliches (such as war, famine and poverty), and to show as many people as possible a more positive Africa a country that is creative in every sense of the word. Agency: Havas Paris

To make sure they communicated this message effectively, a few months before the official opening, planned for the 11 November, the foundation enlisted the services of our advertising agency to help create an exciting communication campaign. This campaign to publicize the opening of the first contemporary African art museum in Ouidah will run in to France, a country which enjoys strong links with Benin.

The idea: to position Ouidah museum among the greats. To show as many people as possible that a contemporary art museum in Africa is something special.

The goal: to appeal to opinion leaders, to a well-informed audience who are interested in art and/or in Africa – those who think about contemporary art but don’t associate it with Africa, and those who think about Africa, but do not picture it in this light